Jim Rathmann Indianapolis 1957 in the Chiropractic Special Epperly Offenhauser. Quin Epperly built this beautiful roadster in 1957 and the car featured a one-piece tail assembly meaning that the fuel tank was not covered by a tail section which eliminated the extra weight. A strong bumper was used to guard against damage. The Hopkins team struggled all month with the new car and Jim squeaked it into the show starting 22nd but race day was to be a whole different story. The very talented Rathmann charged to the front at the green flag. He got all the way up to 14th by lap 10 in passing half the field. Jim was in 3rd by lap 60 and he was in 2nd by lap 80 and was never again lower than 2nd. Rathmann gave Sam Hanks a real run for it and was leading the race at lap 120 when the handling went away. A cracked frame was causing a front-end shimmy that slowed him. Hanks ran him down and passed him for good on lap 135 and Rathmann ended up finishing behind Hanks in 2nd place. Jim Rathmanns run from 32nd place to 2nd and nearly winning the race was one of the most memorable runs in Indy 500 history.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 03:16:32 +0000
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